Both the Stanford men’s and women’s track teams traveled 3,000 miles to compete in the Armory Invitational in New York City last weekend. Against competition that the Cardinal could potentially see at the NCAA Championships in early March, Stanford turned in a strong performance, led by junior Michael Atchoo, who was named Outstanding Performer of the meet.

In the championship mile race on Saturday, Atchoo beat out Tyler Stutzman to win the race with a blistering time of 4:02:38. Overall, the race was a strong performance for the Cardinal as Stanford placed five men in the top 15.

The junior also ran the anchor lap of the men’s distance relay on Friday night, turning in a 3.58.7 split over 1,600 meters. In a fantastic finish, Stanford runners Stutzman, Spencer Chase, Luke Lefebure and Atchoo chased down Oregon to take first with a time of 9:34.20.

“That was a great last lap,” Stanford head coach Chris Miltenberg said. “The team ran with a lot of maturity, composure and toughness.”

The Stanford women’s distance medley relay also performed well on the tight, 200-meter banked track at the Armory. Kori Carter, Joy O’Hare, Jessica Tonn and Amy Weissenbach ran the seventh-fastest time in Stanford history to finish fourth in a competitive field. Weissenbach, a freshman, led off with an impressive 3.20.3 split over 1,200 meters.

The Stanford women were also led by strong individual performances. In the 60-meter sprint, junior Katie Nelms won with a personal best time of 7.61 seconds, good for ninth best in Stanford history.

Kristyn Williams started her collegiate career off with a fantastic performance in the 500-meter race. The freshman raced in the “college” division, but her time of 1.13.39 was better than anyone in either the “college” or “championship” divisions.

In the 800-meter race, Weissenbach ran the third-fastest indoor time in school history. The National High School Federation record-holder in the 800 placed second with a time of 2:06.72.

“[Weissenbach] did an awesome job of keeping her composure and was very assertive on the outside,” Miltenberg said.

Carter, a junior, placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdle race against a field that featured 10 of the top 25 runners in the nation.

The Cardinal will now turn their attention to the Husky Invitational, which will be held in Seattle this weekend.

According to Miltenberg, one of the most highly anticipated races is the 3000-meter race, in which Atchoo will compete.

The Cardinal long-distance runners will also have an opportunity to perform after taking the weekend off last weekend. Redshirt senior Emilie Amaro and junior Jessica Tonn are both slated to compete in the 5000-meter race. Tonn won the 5000 at the University of Washington Invitational two weeks ago.

“We are going to keep fighting and being the hardest, toughest team of the year,” Miltenberg said.

 

Contact Anna Blue at [email protected].